Drawing and flattening table for sheet glass



March 2 19`26.

C. A. ROWLEY DRAWING AND FLATTIENI'NG TABLE FOR SHEET GLASSl Filed Jan.

25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

March 2 ,1926. 1,575,006

1c. A. RowLEY DRAWING AND FLA'ITENIG TABLE FOR SHEET GLASS Filed Jan.25, 1924 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT'OR 25 This improvedvt'able comprises aseries of Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section ,50 by a series ofcam me bers which will be and is preferably formed with a series ofPatented Mar. 2, 1926. f y

UNITED STATES F.frslirrIvorifiegza.y

CLIFFORD A. BOWLEY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, AS'QSIGNOB. '.lOv THE LIBBEYfOWENYSSHEET GLASS COMPANY, OFl TOLEDO, OHIO, lA CORPORATION O F OHIO.

DRAWING AND KELATTENING TABLE' FOB SHEET GLASS.

I Application nl ed January 25, 19.24. Serial No. 688,357. i y

To all whom t may concer/n.' a very small over-all depth tothe table. 55Be it knownthat I, CLIFFORD A. RowLEY, In a copendin-g application filedof even a citizen of the United States, residing at date herewith, avsystem is disclosed for Toledo, inthe county of Lucas and State ofdrawing a plurality of sheets of glass in a 5 Ohio, have invented newand useful Irnsingle one off these machines. Such a sysrovements yinDrawing and FlatteningvTa tem requires a drawing and flattening. table50 .bles for Sheet Glass, of which the following that may beused in thesmall vertical disis a s ecification. p A tance between two parallelhorizontal sheets. This invention relates to improvements in The'tableforming the subject-matterof the the art of drawing sheet.` glass, andmore present invention is especially adapted for articularly toanimproved'forrn of drawsuch' a use, although it may be used with 5` lngand attening table for the glass sheet. equal advantage in a machineadapted for In the patent tol Colburn, 1,248,809, drawing a single sheet.of glass. granted December 4,1917, is disclosed a Other objects andadvantages of the inprocess andapparatusfor drawing a sheety "oIitOn'Will be. 'mOrG Clealfl understood .of glass upwardly 4from 'a pool ofmolten kfrom the following detailed escription of 7.0

glass, bendingthe sheet while still plastic one ap roved form of theapparatus. about a cooled bending roller, and then car- In t eaccompanying drawings: rying the sheet horizontally over a travelingFigl lis a side elevation, partly in section, drawing and flatteningtable and thence into' of the flatteningptfbl and adjacent portionstheleer. The present invention relates to a 0f the Shed-drawingmeChIllSm. The C611- 75 y new and improved form of drawing andtralportion of the table is broken away. fiattening table especiallyadapted for use l Fig. 2 1s a plan vlew of one` side portion in` such4 asheet-drawing system. of the apparatus disclosed in Fig. `1.

fiat sheet-supporting plates or slabs, of a on an enlarged scale, tak nsubstantially on -length greaterthan the width ofthe sheet. the lme 3--3of Fig. 2. The width of the slabs may be varied-with- Fig. 4 isatransverse vertical section taken out departing from the principles ofthis substantially on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1. invention, and forexample may be made Fig..5 is a side elevation of a quick-return wideenough to Hatten a sheet of glass sufmechanism that may be used with oneof iciently large for an automobile windshield,- the intermediate4sheet-supporting 4rollers as upon a single unit or slab of theflattennghereinafter described. j table. These slabs are carried in a contn .Theglass Sheet 1 iS drawnV upwardly from 35 nous series, withvthe sheetsupported therethe poolv of molten glass 2 in receptacle 3,

on, forwardly in one horizontal lane, and and then bent about thebending 'W110i' 4: 90- are then returned in a closely ad]a`cent par-.Tinto the horizontal (plane. After passingallel plane therebe'neath,without reversing over suitable interme late supportingrollers the slabsor turning them u side down. In such as 5 and 6, the -still somewhatplastic other words, the smooth s eet-supporting Sheet aSSeS Onto thedrawing and flattening surface of each slab remains uppermost at tableorming'the subject-matter ofthe pres- 95 all times. The slabs are drawnalong in entinvention.l On this table the sheet setboth directions by apair of looped sprocket tles and cools, and leaves the table and chains,one at either' side, of the path of passesover certain rollers such as 7into the travel of the table,l and theslabs are indileer as' a liatstiff sheet of glass. l

vidually raised from their lower return idle The sheet-su portingportion of the table run to their up er forward sheet-carrying iscomprised of a series of similar rectangurun, and owere from the upperrun to the lar supporting slabs 8. Each of these slabs.

lower run at the end of their forward travel, has a flat uppersheet-supporting surface 9,

described in detail hereinafter. cross-ribs or projections 10 on itslower sur- 105 This new table has the advantage of ein# face forincreasing the'strength and rigidity bodying v ery |large singlesheet-supporting of the slab without unduly increasing its unitsurfaces, and at the same time havingv weight.v Preferably, the slabwill be made of sonrie` suitable alloy such as Monel-metal capable oftaking and retaining f supporting surface of a suitable alloy, or

tglass, or other substance capable of supporting the plastic glass sheet1 without in juring the delicate fire-polished surface thereof. Theupper surfaces of the slabs never contact with anything except the glasssheet so that no injuries to these polished surfaces should normallyoccur.

At its forward edge, each slab is provided with an outwardlyextendingstud orstubshaft 11, which forms one of the pintles of anendless drivingsprocket chain 12, there being one of these chains 12 ateach side of the table. Chains l2 are looped about, and driven by,suitable sprockets 13 and 14 adjacent the two ends of the table.

During their upper sheet-carrying run,

the slabs 8 are' drawn along the fiat upper surface of a stationarysupporting table 15. During their return idle run the slabs slide alonga lower horizontal supporting table 16.v During their upper forward runthe i chains 12 slide along supporting trackways 17 at the sides oftable 15, andduring-thieir lower return runs these chains slide alongtrackways 18 at the' sides of table 16. About midway of each end, eachslab is provided with an outwardly extending stud or pin 19 adapte'd tocooperate with certain cam members hereinafter described-for raising andlowering theslabs at the ends of their paths of travel.

The means whereby the -slabs are individually and successively elevatedfrom their lower return run to their upper forward sheet-carrying runwill now be described, referring more particularly to Fig. 3 of thedrawings. `As one of the slabs 8 nears the end of its'rearward travel(to the right in Fig. 3), its rear edge y20 will ride up the lcam member21, lformed at the rear end of table 16. This position of the slab isindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. As this rear edge 20 reaches thehighest part of cam 2l, the forward edge of the slab connected bypintles 11 with the sprocket chains 12, vwill pass up around the endloops of the chains. As this Aforward edge of the slab is elevated bythe chains passing around the sprocket wheels 14, the studs 19 on theends of the will be slab will be drawn back into contact with stationarycams 22, and as the slab begins its forward travel these studs will rideup the cams 22 until the slab is brought up evenlybeneath the horizontalglass sheet 1, as shown in Fig. 3. At the right-hand end of this gure,one slab has just reached this sheet-supporting position, and the nextfol. lowing slab isstill, resting upon the lower table 16, but its freeend 20 is just ready to on its Iupper fiat surface. Howmade of an beginto slide up t-he cam surface 21. Intermediate positions of the slabas itis elevated from its lower to its upper position are vindicated indotted lines.

The rear end of supporting table 15 may Ibe rounded, as indicated at 23,to provide an additional cam surface acting against the 'forward edge 11of the slab to assist in this elevating process.

After one of the sheet-carrying ly along the tlat upper surface ofsupporting table 15 carrying the glass sheet 1 therewith.l It will beunderstood that the table is much longer than 'as shown in Fig. 3, thecentral portion of the table being lcut vaway in this view in order toshow both ends of the table on an enlarged scale.

' At its forward end the central portion of the stationary supportingtable 15 terminates at a distance from the forward downward loop of thesprocket chains 12 somewhat greater than the width of the slabs 8. Thisforward end of table 15 is preferably rounded downwardly as shown at 24.The

slabs reaches its upper forward side edges of table 15are provided equalto the distance be-y pintles 1l land studs 19 on the' position, it isdrawn forwardpassing downwardly around sprockets 13,

the studs 19 first run down the rounded cam surfaces 26 atthe forwardends of exten sions 25. As the studs 19 run olf from these cams 26 theydrop onto the rearwardly sloping surfaces of cams27 pivotally mounted onthe ends of the shafts or journals 28 which support and drive thesprockets 13. As the pintles 11 round the ends of the down loops of thesprocket rchains and the slab 8 begins to move rearwardly, the studs 19simultaneously ride down the surfaces of cams 27 until the slab islowered into position on the lower supporting table 16. The cams 27 willsupport the rear edge 20 of one slab out of engagement with the forwardedge of the slab 8 in advance thereof until pintles 11 have reached thelower portion of their run, and the slab 8 may be swung down onto table16 without contacting with the next adjacent slab. As the slab 8 slides'rearwardly along the table 16, the cams 27 will swing upwardly abouttheir pivots 28, as shown in dotted lines, to allow the passages of thepintles thereunder.

It will be noted that the slabs 8 may be reasonable width providing thecams an j supporting members are properlyproportioned` However, if theseslabs 8 are of considerablelwdth, the length of unsupported plasticyglass sheet between the supporting roller 5 and the rear edge ot theflattening tablev will vary through wide limits, depending on whether aslab 8 has just been raised into sheet-supporting position, ory hasmoved forwardly 'until the succeeding slab is about to be raised up tofollow it. To meet this contingency, the intermediate supporting roller6 is made movable sothat it will follow the slab 8 last raised intosheet-supporting position, at approximately half the'speed ot the slab,so as to remain midway of the length of glass sheet between igoller 5and slab 8 to give the 'maximum support thereto. Just before thefollowing slab'8 is raised into sheet-supl porting position, it isnecessary that this intermediate vi'oll 6 be quickly returned to itsoriginal position..

A suitable quick-return movement forlperforming this function isillustrated Ain Fig. 5 of the drawings. In this igure,29 indicates oneofthe Journal-boxes supporting an end of roll 6. This journal-boX isslidable longitudinally between trackways' 30 and 31. At 32 is shown aconstantly driven gear meshing with an annular gear 33" moving about alarge fixed disc 34. A lever 35 is` intermediately pivoted at 36 on thedisc 3a. One arm of lever 35 has anl elongated slot 37 in which movesastud 38 secured to annular gear 33.' The opposite shorter ,end of lever35 is pivoted at 39 to a link or connecting rod 40, which is pivoted atits other end 4l to a portion of sliding journalf box S9. It will beseen that as the annular gear 33 revolves in the direction of the'arrow, the stud 38 will move outwardly in slot 37, rotating lever 35about its pivot 36, and slowly drawing the journal-box QS) to the left.This will continue throughout about three-quarters of the rotation ofgear 33. For the other one-quarter of the revolution of gear 33, theslotted end of lever 35 will be swung back through the lower halt of itsorbit, and through link connection Al0 return the box 29 to its originalposition. In other words, with ,the mechanism proportioned as hereshown, the boX 29 will be returned to the lright, in one-third of thetime .it takes to draw it to vthe lett. It is to be understood that thisform of quick* return mechanism is not original, and is merelyillustrative of one form of mechanism da i ed tor this purpose. If theslabs S are made comparatively narrow it will be iinnecessaiy to movethe intermediate supporting roll G, and this quick-return mechanism maybe omitted. i

Any suitable means, suchas rollers 42. resting on the edge portions ofthe glass sheet l above the flattening tablemay be used to increase thefrictional contact of the sheet with the table to prevent slippagethereon. These rollers may be driven if dehereinabove.- Vhen thecontinuous sheet is' once under way through the machine and leer, theweight of the sheet itself will usually be lsuficieiit t'o provide thenecessary frictional vdrawing engagement with the table.

' Claims:

1. A drawing and Hattening -table for sheet glass, comprising an upperstationary table and a lower stationary table, the tables each lhavingupper fiat horizontal supporting surfaces, a series of flatsheet-supporting plates, and means for .movingthe plates A s uceessivelyalong the upper table beneath and with the glass sheet, and thenreturning them along v'the lower table, the sheet-sup* porting surfacesof the plates always remaining uppermost, and out of contact with thetables.

2. A drawing and flattening table for sheet glass, comprising an upperstationary table and a lower stationary table, the tables each havingupper flat vhorizontal supporting surfaces, a series of' flatsheet-supporting plates, lsprocket chains for drawing the plates alongthe upper table with and beneath the glass sheet, and then returningthem along the lower table, and a series of cams for lowering andraising the plates at the ends of their upper and lower rims, the

sheetesupporting surfaces of the plates always remaining uppermost.

3. A drawing and flattening table for :sheet glass, comprising an upperstationary table and a lower stationary table, the tables'each havingupper flat horizontal supporting surfaces, a series of flatsheet-supporting plates, a pair of chain loops one at each side of thetables, each" plate being' hinged to the chains at its forward edge sothat the chains will draw the platesA along the upper table and thenreturn them along the lower table, and cam means adapted to cooperatewith the chains to lower and raise the i'ilatcs at Vthe ends of theirupper and lower rims, the sheet-supportingsurfaces of the plates alwaysremaining uppermost and never contacting with the tables.

Ll. In a sheet glass drawing apparatus, a source ot molten glass, meansfor drawing :i sheetof `glass therefrom comprising a series ot' fiatsheet-supporting plates and means to move the plates beneath and withthe sheet. supporting rollers beneath that portion ot 'the sheet betweenthe source and the moving plates, and means for shifting one or" therollers toward and from the plates as the plates are successivelybrought up into sheet-supporting position.

In a sheet glass drawing apparatus, a source ot molten glass, means fordrawing a sheet ot glass therefrom comprising a series of fiatsheet-supportingrplates and means to move the plates beneath and withthe sheet, supporting rollers beneath that portion of thesheet betweenthe source and the 5 moving plates, and means for shifting one ofthemrollers slowly in the direction of movement 'of the plates and thenreturning' it quickly to its initial position just before another plateis brought up beneath` the sheet.

Signed atToledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, this 23d dayof J anuary 1924.

CLIFFORD A. RQWLEY..

